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Like I said before, It'll only look "perfect" the day you roll it out the door, after that it's all down hill, especially for a daily driver type car. But I live for that first day.
If you never look under there, they're still clean and pretty!
Andy,
I hear ya. a trip once every 2 weeks of so to the spray car wash helps. Most of what I was shooting for was preventing future corrosion. But it'll never look as good as the first day. Such is life....
rj
P.S. Although I've painted a few cars in my past I've become a real rattle can artist mostly for the convenance of no mixing but mostly not having to clean the gun. For little stuff I've had good luck with"Eastwood" Under-Hood paints, but I recently started using Por-15 detail paints. They have in general a larger can and they spray with a nice.fine pattern.
For color matching I've used www.theautopaintdepot.com.
The match is spot on and they spray nice. Definitely not cheap at $39-49 a can, but sooo much less hassle. I wouldn't want to paint a hood or a door with it but for little parts it worked great.
I also have to give a shout out to them as one of the cans sprayed a little "funny", like the can is being held at too much angle or was near empty. I was able to use it on the flat dust shields, but I wrote to them describing the issue and asking for any suggestions, and they sent me a free can!
The main reason I don't do more painting is I hate the cleanup. That's pretty good work with a rattle can. I use a lot of the Eastwood stuff. Haven't tried auto paint depot, but might give it a shot.
Before putting the subframe back in I figured I would drop the exhaust for the "One Ball Mod". A little more room to work. At 68, I don't crawl around under a car as easily as I did at 20.
Dropping the exhaust was a little easier said than done. The nuts at the head pipe flange no longer even looked like nuts. I had spayed them a few times in the last few weeks but one close look and I knew it was hopeless to even attempt to get them to unscrew..
The flange is tilted a little so one bolt looked reasonable to get to, the other was turned up to the floor enough that I really couldn't get anything up in there to cut it off.
I put the floor jack under the pipe at the rear and started to drop the muffler/resonator. The outside bolt on the muffler strap came off pretty easy but that was the only one. The inside one on the muffler just twisted the strap, so I figured rather than fight that, I would take out the 2 hanger bolts. One loosened ok, the other snapped as I was nearing the end. There "might" be just enough thread/bolt left to get a nut on. On the resonator side the straps just broke as they were pretty well rusted through.
So with the resonator and the muffler on the floor, the main pipe tilted just enough to cut one bolt off with a cutoff wheel, but the other I still couldn't get to so I had to cut it off with the torch.
Anyway, I bought a sheet of plywood that I'll eventually use for "Rear Seat Delete" and bolted the entire thing to the plywood, blocked and strapped down, so hopefully when I cut it apart it will maintain alignment. One good thing, the resonator is falling apart but the muffler that I'm reusing looks pretty decent.
Right now I'm measuring 5 times and cutting once...I hope.
robj
All strapped down. [I hope] Should stay aligned... Crusty Resonator Pretty Decent Muffler.
So this is fun. Appears the flange bolts are welded or pressed in. Cut them off and ground both sides flush with the flange.
Gave it a heck of a wack with a big hammer and punch. Didn't budge a bit. So, drilling out what seems to be a hardened bolt/stud in 4 steps with different size bits. Getting 10mm flange nuts and bolts from McMaster-Carr.
Slight delay.
rob
P.S. I just tried to D/L a short video, is that not possible?
Who ever thought "One Ball" would be a good thing???
Rob
The process. The resonator on the right is eliminated. The elbow connects the straight pipe to the muffler. The bracing worked well. When the sections were cut, nothing moved. Thats a good thing.
Basically on the advise of some You-Tube guy. Well... It's ok but not a plug and play fit. The forward end is a bit bigger than the stock pipe, but it sort of works out as the elbow needs to be tilted up in the rear slightly and the gap gives a little flexibility there. Plus it's not so much that my Mig welder can't fill the gap. That being said I don't think it would work well if your plan was to try and use a clamp. I mean "maybe" but I wouldn't like it.
But as the upstream pipe is going into the downstream pipe it'll work out ok. It's really "best practice" to arrange your exhaust in this manner to avoid an "inner ridge" in the direction of the flow.
Let's backup a minute. It can be a little difficult to get straight, square cuts in tubing. One of my welder buddies turned me onto the nifty device below that you wrap around pipe, make sure the edges line up and you get a nice square cut around the pipe. Providing you have the skill to cut on the line that is. I think most Plumbing supply houses have it and it pretty handy. I don'y know what it's called but it comes in a roll with soapstone markers and if you describe it as the cardboard stuff you wrap around a pipe, they might know what you're talking about.
So despite the "best practice" of having "upstream pipes" go into "downstream" pipes, that's not going to happen here as the new elbow is the same size as the pipe going into the muffler.
I was going to "butt weld" the two pipes together, but to be honest, I don't trust my welding skills enough. Self taught on a "Horrible Freight" and all that taught me was my welding sucked. Don't even bother with those POS. I got a decent Miller and all of a sudden, I could weld! Well, maybe half the time... Half my welds looked like you paid somebody, and half look like camel snot. Not sure what I'm doing different, but I think it boils down to a good ground on shiny metal.
So anyway, I would really like to have the muffler side of the pipe swaged larger so the elbow would go inside but that would mean disturbing my jig and maybe having things not line up when I'm done.
So the new plan is, take the elbow to a muffler shop on Monday and have them swage out the end of the elbow [to match a little piece of pipe I cut off] so the pipe from the muffler will fit inside, then weld that up. Not "best practice", but I'll grind a little bevel on the inside of the muffle pipe for a smoother transition and a little less turbulence.
For a $500 Mini it'll be close enough. I did look at aftermarket exhaust and at $500+ to $1200, I don't think so. Maybe after driving it a while, and all is working out, and this falls apart, but until then, not so much. so this is the plan...
So this is where we are. Clean the rust off the existing pipes for welding, take the elbow to a muffler shop for swaging and wait for McMaster-Carr to deliver the grade 8 flanged nuts and bolts for the exhaust flange.
Ok, a bit of grumpy here. Mostly at engineers that design this stuff. The bolts for the brackets that clamp around the muffler were rusted into a lump. Well a week of on and off spraying, one came out. What gets me is the bracket is stainless, but the nut that's swaged onto the bracket isn't. Duh...
Then there the nuts and studs that hold the isolators to the body. Welded in plain steel studs. Into a bracket that's welded to the body. With no access to the top. Under the car where there is the most chance for corrosion. I guess as it's part of the car when the grey "rustproofing" is applied so it's supposed to be rust proofed. Of course then the nut is run on and it takes that coating right off. A dab of "something" at assembly would have helped, or at the very least make the plates the studs are welded to replaceable. Something... As it is the stud has to be ground off, drilled out and a bolt dropped in from the top, if it will even go.
So by using a small wire wheel and BP blaster I was able to get 6 of the 8 bolts off the studs. The side for the resonator [that I'm not using] broke off flush, the one on the muffler side I am using was almost all the way off, then broke. I think I can get a nut on that one.
I cleaned them up with a die, and def. some never seize on reassembly. My oldest son is actually a Mechanical Engineer. Don't know how many times I cursed engineers for disregarding people that have to fix the **** they design. I know their goal is to make it cheaper, but a really good engineer should design cheaper and better.
I hope my rants prompts my son to consider this from time to time.
Ok, rant over, back to our regular scheduled program.
robj
So we left off with the system strapped down and the resonator cut off. I then cut the elbow to the correct length.
That's when I discovered the upward bend in the elbow is too great to line up correctly with the front pipe. When level with the front pipe it misses the muffler inlet by about half. I used a rosebud tip on my torch in an attempt to heat it up enough to bend, but couldn't get it hot enough all around the pipe as the pipe was so thin it cooled off too quick.
The YouTube guy never mentioned this. In the photo you can see the misalignment. This was after I tried heating the **** out of the pipe to no avail.
Misalignment at muffler inlet.
The elbow "kit" came with 2 elbows, a left and a right. So my choice was to cut the existing elbow and weld a patch in to fill the gap, or to use the other pipe, cut a notch out and bend the pipe back together. I quit there for the night but took the entire muffler part to a shop to have the inlet swaged larger so the elbow would fit inside to avoid a but weld. The guy said he was afraid it would split, [it didn't] but I said to go ahead as I didn't care if it split, I could weld it back up.
That worked well and the pipe slipped right in.
Next up was cutting a section out of the elbow and welding it back together. It was a little hard to tell exactly how big a piece to remove so I started small and got bigger.
I ended up with some gaps of almost 3/16's [maybe more] no picnic to fill in. It ended up looking good but I think it was a better demonstration of my grinding skills as opposed to welding skills...
New welded pipe and the one I couldn't bend. You can see how far off the angle was. Note; Wasn't off this much. the back part of the elbow isn't raised to the muffler inlet. [the bolt tacked on was for a good ground for the welder] The welded up section is to the left of the bolt.
Next up was filling the gap between the front pipe and the elbow, It was about the thickness or the pipe and I could have probably welded it up but I could also see the pipe cracking there. I took a 4" straight section of the elbow pipe and cut a slot lengthwise, compressed it to see if it would fit over the front pipe and into the elbow. It took 4-5 tries cutting a little at a time but it ended filling the gap perfectly. [well with a little grinding to the inside of the elbow and the outside of the front pipe.
So I tacked both ends together before quitting for the evening. I want to do a test fit before welding everything up just in case something shifted. But it looks ok. Not my best work but if the rest of the car works out I might end up with an aftermarket exhaust.
Husky,
I was thinking the same, but wanted to get a little more Vroom Vroom, before it hit the road and I was a little reluctant to make that investment having never really driven the car more than 100 yards...
To be honest, IF the car had been operational, and IF I knew what I know now, despite being an avid, [or rabid, you decide] do it yourself-er. I honestly think if I had it to do over again, I would have driven it to a muffler shop and spend maybe $150 and paid them to do it.
I think I have maybe 25-30 hours in this including "beer time". Hoping it fits. I'll know tomorrow.
Last chapter, everything was fitted and tacked up. I installed everything with a new muffler hanger and everything fit.
I took it back off and welded it up. Even though I haven't welded for a while, it's sort of like riding a bike. It all came back to me pretty quick once I got the settings right on a practice piece. Welded initially with one bead, then as I was having some fun welding again, AND had some time, AND and a few beers in me I decided to do a little more filling and grinding so it was a smooth transition.
True to form I ordered some Por-15 high heat silver to give a quick paint job. It'll look nice plus I've had good luck with the other Por-15 paint and I wanted to see how it held up.
rob
Not bad. Can hardly tell it's a joint.
Also not bad. I sort of wish I started with all new parts. Maybe the paint will hold up...
So with the exhaust done, [minus paint] when I changed the plugs I noticed some oil in the plug holes. Not a lot but "some". I read where it can get worse, fouls plugs and causes "issues". I kept trying to ignore it, but it just wouldn't go away, [OCD and all], so I ordered a valve cover gasket and new bolts as mine looked really crusty.
The Pelican "how to" said to remove the fuel rail, but to be honest, I don't think that will be in the way. Took the intercooler and associated hardware off, and the wiring.
Then started to remove the 2 aluminum brackets that did appear to be in the way, but although I got the bolts for these to turn a little,I didn't force it. I did some BP Blaster and thought I better let them sit over night.
Left side bracket
Right side Bracket, [facing the engine]
Then I started loosening [or attempting to] the valve cover bolts. Some of the the nut portions were pretty rusted, plus, they were pretty darn tight. [steel into aluminum, always scary]. I turned them pretty carefully, making sure they would at least turn, which most did.
The Thanksgiving Miracle!
One in the rear, [or course] the nut portion was just about gone. I put the 8mm on first, tapping it all the way on with a [small] hammer. Turned it and all it did was remove the remaining rust. I'm thinking "that's going to be a ***** to drill out", especially in the rear!
Tried tapping on a 7mm socket, same deal.
Then tapped on a 6mm socket, [6 sided] on and it felt "snug". EVER so carefully, I tried turning it and son-of-a-gun it turned!
Was I a happy camper or what? You would have thought I won the lottery!
8mm to 6mm...
So, as long as the 2 kinda stuck bracket bolts come out, I think we're home free... I got all new bolts, cleaned them and clear coated the upper nut portion. Maybe they'll resist the rust monster for a little while.
Looks like its coming together nicely! I can't wait until I have the time (and another car) so I can take my R53 apart and put it all back together properly. Next big project for me will be dropping the front subframe to change front swaybar bushings (H&R 27mm) that seem to wear out quickly...
So I found a little oil in one of the plug tubes. I was trying my best to ignore it but I read where it can just get worse and eventually foul the plug. So after the "Thanksgiving Miracle". I forged ahead with the vale cover removal. After removing the 2 brackets and getting a good look at the other 2 valve cover bolts I think I needed another miracle!
The one bolt was pretty much gone. I tried the 6mm socket trick, no luck. No wonder...
That was a bolt?
So I had to drill it out, thinking the head would go, I could lift the cover off and use vice grips to get the rest of the bolt out.
A pause right here. I know they are called "high speed drill bits" but that is the opposite of what you want to do. You want the drill as slow as possible. See the little curly-cues of metal? Thats what you want! Go slow, slow, that you get 1 if not 2 little curly-cues of metal. [one is good, 2 is perfect] I mean really slow, with pressure. Where you can see the bit turning...SLOW. If you are getting chips, and not the little spirals of metal, you are drilling too fast! Probably WAY too fast and you're dulling the bit!
So, with a small pilot hole, I switched bits and bigger hole. Just about the diameter of the bolt, hoping to get the majority of the bolt above the cover to be gone, lift the washer off and remover the cover. Well, that was the plan anyway....
Here's the second Thanksgiving Miracle.
The larger bit snagged, and when reversing the bit, the bolt screwed itself out!!! Better than Turkey leftovers!
Never saw that coming! Luck, just plain luck
Considering how tight the valve cover bolts were, I ran a 6mm x 1.0, [I think- I'll recheck]. tap through each valve cover bolt hole. All of them are open on the bottom except for 3 in the front. Run tap in, blow out hole and tap with air hose and onto the next. I will put TefGel on each before reinstall.[really good aluminum anti-seize] Reinstall with a screwdriver handle on the socket, going by "feel". Like "Goldilocks", no too much, not too little! [steel bolts into aluminum heads-always a concern]
I was pleased with how clean the cam/valve galley looked. And from what I could see the cam chain and follower look pretty clean. Not bad for 155K miles...
Bead blast and paint the brackets, clean the valve cover, new plug seals, and reassemble tomorrow.
One less thing!
Robj
Husky,
Please, even "grief" is welcome. I learned a long time ago, I can learn something from anyone. Please feel free to throw in your 2 cents.
But it's nice to know there is life out there.Ha!
I try to make the posts slightly interesting as well as slightly instructional.
If I can save one guy, [especially the less experienced] a little aggravation, mission accomplished!
robj
Appears the build threads don't get much traffic... Or maybe it's just mine, Ha!
Don't worry robj. I would say that many of us are living out our OCD tendancies vicariously through your posts even though we may not comment. Carry on...
Don't worry robj. I would say that many of us are living out our OCD tendancies vicariously through your posts even though we may not comment. Carry on...
Ha! thanks, [I think?] Or thinking "that guy needs therapy!" Like I mentioned, the problem is, this IS my therapy...
rob
So the valve cover went back on without major difficulties. One minor "Duh". I ordered new valve cover bolts, 4 tall ones and 4 short ones. The problem is there are 8 short ones!
Grrr...
But I was able to salvage 4 of the old ones that were in pretty good shape, wire brushed and painted them. Can't tell the difference.
I won't bore everyone with the valve cover gasket installation. Pelican Motors has a step by step and I pretty much did what they did. Only deviation is I put the tiniest smear of silicone gasket maker around the inner edge of the gasket where it touches the head. Around the inside edge so none would be visible. Such a thin smear I doubt it would be seen anyway. https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm
Next up is cleaning and painting the inner fenders, as some of it shows through the plastic inner fender. We can't have that now can we?
robj
After the "artwork" of the springs and struts I realized a good portion of the inner fender would be visible where the plastic inner fender liner had a large gap. Couldn't stand that ****, I mean the struts and spring needed a nice background right?
So, scrubbed the heck out of the inner fenders with "Dawn detergent" and hot water then scrubbed it with hot soapy water and a Scotch Bright pad.
Then a wipe down with alcohol.
It took longer to tape it all off then to clean and paint. Again, I neglected to take "before" photos.
Oh well, looks pretty good now...
Taping everything off was the most difficult part. It looked pretty scuzzy before, I should have taken a shot of that.
rob
Drivers side.
Passenger side.
I took the brake lines off the bracket then reconnected then to the old rubber lines still hooked to the old calipers. I reconnected them pretty quick to avoid loosing much fluid. I have new s.s. hoses to be installed.
Next up; reinstall the lower sub-frame.
